Short Interest in Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) Grows By 29.2%

Unitil Co. (NYSE:UTL) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 195,600 shares, a growth of 29.2% from the September 30th total of 151,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 59,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Unitil Stock Performance

Shares of UTL traded down $1.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $57.87. The stock had a trading volume of 29,210 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,118. Unitil has a fifty-two week low of $45.13 and a fifty-two week high of $63.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $935.76 million, a PE ratio of 19.16 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.70.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $95.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.00 million. Unitil had a net margin of 9.53% and a return on equity of 9.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Unitil will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Unitil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Unitil’s payout ratio is 56.29%.

Institutional Trading of Unitil

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Unitil by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 492,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,505,000 after purchasing an additional 2,891 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Unitil by 0.9% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 464,851 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,075,000 after buying an additional 4,100 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Unitil by 1.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 442,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,898,000 after buying an additional 5,790 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its position in shares of Unitil by 1.1% during the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 403,482 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,896,000 after buying an additional 4,224 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Unitil by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 81,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,291,000 after buying an additional 2,513 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.76% of the company’s stock.

Unitil Company Profile

Unitil Corporation, a public utility holding company, engages in the distribution of electricity and natural gas. It operates through two segments, Utility Electric Operations, Utility Gas Operations. The company distributes electricity in the southeastern seacoast and state capital regions of New Hampshire, and the greater Fitchburg area of north central Massachusetts; and distributes natural gas in southeastern New Hampshire and portions of southern and central Maine, including the city of Portland and the Lewiston-Auburn area, as well as electricity and natural gas in the greater Fitchburg area of north central Massachusetts.